Ceres-La Salle FC produced a 7-0 route in the quarterfinals against Forza FC last April 3, 2015 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Goals were abundant as there were six different goalscorers in the match.
The Bacolod-squad came out strong, pressuring Forza, and creating plenty of half-chances in the first quarter hour. This was highlighted by Jeffrey Christaens who blasted the opening goal to the bottom corner in the 15th minute after receiving a forward pass from Juani Guirado.
It was 2-0, two minutes after, when Christaens’ cross was met by Nate Burkey who redirected the ball into the net in an acrobatic fashion. The busmen had plenty of chances throughout the first half but the Forza goalkeeper in Ibrahim was their to foil their attacks.
The third goal came in the 36th minute after a great team effort by Ceres. Bienvenido Maranon engaged with Adrian Gallardo for a one two with Gallardo laying off to an open Burkey who’s shot was disrupted by a defender. Nate recovered the ball in the goal lined and squared a pass to an open Bienve who made no mistake. Bienve scored his brace in the 40th minute after heading in a corner from Jeff Christaens. The half ended with the Group A leaders dominating their quarterfinal counterparts.
The second half started with 3 substitutions for Ceres with Arnie Pasinabo, Marvin Angeles, and Jason Sabio coming in for Maranon, Victorino Son, and Guirado. Goalkeeper Mike Casas was booked a yellow in the 47th after checking a breakaway Forza player.
The next goal didn’t come till the 61st minute when Gallardo broke through the right flank and shooting from 15-yards towards to bottom corner to make it five for Ceres. Soriano made it 6-0 after meeting a through pass from the left and slotting on through the keeper in the 63rd. Casas had to make a tough save a minute after when Hayato Aoki made an attempt on the edge of the box.
Jansoy Panhay, who replaced Christaens in the 56th, made it 7-0 for Ceres with a cheeky goal. The winger faked a cross to the middle and blasted one to the back of the net in the 80th minute. Soriano cut into the box in the 84th and was then fouled forcing the referee to call a penalty. Val Kama went for the spot kick but his shot was saved by the Forza keeper.
“I think we played really well as a team today. As you can see from the score, (it) just says enough that we played a good game,” said Jeff Christaens who came out with an inspired performance celebrating the arrival of his newborn son.
Ceres will now face Kaya FC, their tormentors in last year’s edition of the Cup, in the semifinal who recently came from a goal down to beat Loyola in the second quarterfinal match.
“Kaya is a tough opponent and they are doing really good in AFC. We have to focus and we just have to play our game. And I think individually, we have the best players. We just have to show it as a team that we are better than them,” added the Ceres winger.
The Busmen will play their semifinal match with Kaya on April 6 (815 PM) at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. The other semifinal match pits undefeated Stallion FC who will face Global at 515PM. In the event of a draw in regulation, the matches will continue to extra time with two 15-halves and a shooutout if the score is still tied after 120 minutes.
All photos courtesy of the United Football League (www.uflph.com)
